High Risk of Severe Gale or Storm Force conditions on Tuesday

There's a high risk of severe gales with strong gusts through Tuesday (8th September 2009) effecting the Western Isles & West Highlands.

Currently Hebrides Weather Forecast is predicting that Southerly winds will increase through Tuesday, reaching speeds of up to 51 mph by the evening.
Winds should reduce after midnight, reaching around 36mph by morning.

The UK Met Office has issued a Weather Advisory for gusts of up to 70 to 80 mph and heavy rain, with up to 40mm falling in places. This advisory could be upgraded on Sunday night or through Monday.

This storm is being caused by a deepening Low pressure area out in the Atlantic. It is currently at 1004mb but is expected to drop to 980mb as it passes to the Northwest of Scotland and the tightly packed isobars will cause the wind speeds to increase up to, or slightly over, Storm Force on the Beaufort Scale.
The current pressure charts indicate that the strongest winds will occur between 21:00 and midnight on Tuesday evening.

Stay tuned for further updates (as they say...).

Update 00:32 7th Sept:
The 18:00 Extended Outlook for the Shipping Forecast areas from the UK Met Office states the following: Gales or severe gales are expected to affect much of the area on Tuesday evening with storm force winds north of 55 deg N and possibility of the winds reaching violent storm for a time. The winds mostly from the southwest veering west but north or northeast backing northwest over Southeast Iceland.